February 14 Is a Great Day - Let’s Feature Charles Darwin as Part of the Celebration

February 17, 2013

I enjoy all holidays, and other days in between for that
matter, but some special occasions inspire particularly good thoughts about an
honoree whose life is recalled and celebrated.

Two of my favorite holidays are August 11 and July 18.

On August 11 in 1833, Robert Green Ingersoll was born in
Dresden, NY. Not many Americans save those of the most ardent secular
persuasive recognize this occasion as a holiday, take the day off and raise a
toast in honor of “The Great Agnostic,” a colossal REAL wellness pioneer.

But I do. For me, August 11 is a holiday when I take the day
off and toast the occasion.

Even fewer people take off, toast or revere July 18, but for
me it’s one of the biggest holidays of all. And why not? After all, it’s my
birthday.

I celebrate numerous other special days, particularly
February 12, December 2, January 25 and July 27. The first of these dates,
February 12, is the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin (1809 -
what a day for humanity); the latter three dates the arrival days of my
daughter, son and wife.

I’ll give Abraham Lincoln his due, no doubt of that. But
Charles Darwin was special in a different and equally positive way, and unlike
Lincoln, does not get nearly enough attention.

Many men and women of a scientific bent credit Charles
Darwin for making the greatest advance of the 19th century. Paradoxically,
many, and you know who they are, vilify Charles Darwin for that reason - they
simply cannot reconcile the creation myth with the reality of Darwin’s great
discovery.

A CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION

Tuesday is Darwin’s 204th birthday. A bill (House Resolution
41) has been introduced in the Congress “expressing support for designation of
February 12, 2013, as Darwin Day and recognizing the importance of science in
the betterment of humanity.” It reads as follows:

* Whereas Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by the
mechanism of natural selection, together with the monumental amount of
scientific evidence he compiled to support it, provides humanity with a logical
and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on Earth;

* Whereas the validity of Darwin's theory of evolution by
natural selection is further strongly supported by the modern understanding of
the science of genetics;

* Whereas it has been the human curiosity and ingenuity
exemplified by Darwin that has promoted new scientific discoveries that have
helped humanity solve many problems and improve living conditions;

* Whereas the advancement of science must be protected from
those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate
change;

* Whereas the teaching of creationism in some public schools
compromises the scientific and academic integrity of the United States
education systems;

* Whereas Charles Darwin is a worthy symbol of scientific
advancement on which to focus and around which to build a global celebration of
science and humanity intended to promote a common bond among all of Earth's
peoples; and

* Whereas February 12, 2013, is the anniversary of the birth
of Charles Darwin in 1809 and would be an appropriate date to designate as
Darwin Day: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives

(1) supports the designation of Darwin Day; and

(2) recognizes Charles Darwin as a worthy symbol on which to
celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human
knowledge.

The Congress would do the nation proud if House Resolution
41 passed unanimously.

SUPPORT FOR DARWIN DAY

A few years ago, a New York Times column contained this
summary of Charles Darwin’s legacy: “By the time Darwin died in 1882, he was
recognized as one of England's greatest scientists and was buried in
Westminster Abbey. By then, most biologists had come to agree with Darwin that
species shared a common ancestry. But many rejected natural selection,
preferring other kinds of mechanisms to drive evolutionary change. It was not
until twentieth-century biologists uncovered DNA that they were able to confirm
the reality of natural selection, by discovering how it worked on the level of
molecules. (Carl Zimmer, (February 10, 2009.) There is speculation that the
Republican Congressman from Georgia’s 10th Congressional District.
Representative, Paul Broun may not support the resolution. Represen

tative Broun
recently told the Liberty Baptist Church Sportsman’s Banquet that “all that
stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the Big Bang theory, all
that is lies, straight from the pit of hell. Evolution is one of those lies to
try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that
they need a savior.”

Mr. Broun chairs a House science committee and attends a
Baptist church in Athens, Ga. He is a member of the Gideons, the group that
places Bibles in hotel rooms. His position makes sense to those who believe in
the literal truth of a Bible written when people believed that life began and
takes place on a flat, unmoving Earth at the center of a 6,000 year-old
universe. Darwin’s theory, in other words, does not comport with Genesis. On
the contrary, natural selection explains our existence without so much as a
reference to a divine creator.

Americans are probably more familiar with the Tennessee law
that sparked the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in 1925 banning the teaching of
human evolution than they are with the nature of evolution itself, as described
in “Origin of the Species.”

This, of course, is just one more reason for doing what we
can to make this coming Thursday, the 14th of February a celebratory part of
the holiday that also honors President Abraham Lincoln.